Ireland’s population is getting older and the average age now stands at 37.4 years, 1.3 years older than five years ago.

And the latest Census figures show that the number of pre-school children aged 0 – 4, and young adults aged 19-24, has fallen.

The population has been getting steadily older since the 1980s, despite Ireland having among the highest birth rates across Europe over recent years.

Senior statistician, Deirdre Cullen, said the ‘Age Profile in Ireland’ report published this morning provided an in-depth look at all age cohorts across the State.

"This profile report examines the age breakdown of Ireland’s population and the characteristics of different age groups by geographic area, accommodation and household composition," she said.

Among the main findings include:

Almost 40pc of the population, or 37.2pc, are aged 45 and over, compared with 34.4pc in 2011 and 27.6pc in 1986

Almost a third of the population is less than 25 years old, while 29.5pc were in the 25-44 age group

The national average age is rising across all counties. The ‘average’ age in Kerry and Mayo is 40.2 years, while Fingal in north Dublin is the youngest at 34.3 years

The average age of the rural population was 2.4 years older than the urban population, an increase of 0.5 years on five years earlier

Females were on average 1.3 years older than their male counterparts

The data also shows that Killarney in Kerry has the highest average age at 40.9 years, with Balbriggan in Co Dublin having the youngest at 30.8 years.

The number of pre-school children fell by 7pc to 331,515 in April 2016 compared to five years earlier, and they are increasingly living in flats and apartments.

Just over 30pc of primary school children live in rented accommodation, a slight increase on 2011.

Members of the population aged 65 years and older saw the largest increase, rising by 102,000 to 637,000 or 19.1pc They are increasingly living at home.

“The census recorded 456 centenarians, an increase of 17.2pc on 2011,” the CSO Added. “Over half a million or 577,171 in this older age group (over 65 years) lived in private households, an increase of 19.6pc, while those in nursing homes increased by 1,960 to 22,762.”